And next June I plan to participate in the 2018 Bike MS: MS 150 ride from Duluth to the Twin Cities, with two 75-mile stages over a long weekend.

What in the heck happened to me? My friends are agog, and I share their amazement.

I stumbled into city biking by accident, when a new car my wife and I bought came with a free-bicycle offer. I did not envision doing much with the bicycle, but I climbed aboard, started pedaling, got addicted and felt my body gradually grow more powerful.

I have not been in this kind of shape in decades — perhaps ever. It takes a lot to make me winded now, and I have to remind myself to drink water because I can go for miles and miles without seeming to need it.

I offer my tale as inspiration for those seeking to get in shape, and thinking that biking might be the way to do it. I am not positioning myself as some kind of bicycling guru. I am still new to this and have a lot to learn.

But I want to share what I have experienced so far … and to show you how you can get hooked on city biking. Your significant other might soon be sneaking more looks at you, too.

GET A BIKE (NOTHING FANCY)

Bicycles can be expensive — costing thousands of dollars, in many cases, which I can’t afford. You can get sweet rides running in the hundreds, however, especially if you are open to used models. And if you’re just a casual cyclist, like me, you don’t need anything fancy.

With my free bicycle (a joint offer of Erik’s Bike Shop and Walser Mazda), I was not expecting much. You get what you pay for, right? But it turned out to be a great bicycle. My Specialized-brand bike has an upright riding style, which suits me, and it’s bad-ass black.

Erik’s (the one in Roseville, specifically) treated me very well. I’ve also had decent customer-service experiences with a couple of local non-chain bicycle shops, Lowertown Bike Shop in downtown St. Paul and Express Bike Shop near Selby Avenue and Lexington Parkway in St. Paul. Check ’em out.

LOAD UP ON ACCESSORIES

My “free” bike ended up costing me a significant sum after I got done loading it up with extras, but these were all important.

I added a rear-view mirror, a rack upon which to hang pannier-style bags, “toe clips” that increase the force of my pedaling, a pair of gloves to counteract palm sweat, and a few other things.

My wife (who buys all my clothes) found me an affordable selection of bicycling jerseys, garments made of a material that wicks away perspiration and have back pockets for stashing a wallet, keys, phone and other belongings. The brightly hued garb makes me feel like a serious cyclist, not to mention a more comfortable one, and my wife is happy that I’m easier to spot in traffic.

By far the best item in my bike-accessory kit is my Convertible Waterproof Pannier Backpack from Minneapolis-based Banjo Brothers. The bag hangs from my rack when I’m riding. And when I park my bike to move on foot, it transforms quickly into a reasonably comfortable backpack. I dig this thing.

FIND A BICYCLING SENSEI

When I began bicycling, I didn’t know what I was doing or where I was going much of the time. I needed guidance. I was Luke in search of Yoda. I found my Jedi Master in Chris, a neighbor and friend, who’s an expert bicyclist but patient about slowing down on my account.

Chris has helped me in fundamental ways. He’s led me along the intricate network of Twin Cities paths that make this metro area a cycling paradise. I’m sure I would have figured this out on my own eventually, but it’s better to have a savvy guide.

Chris has challenged me to improve. He is not a drill sergeant, by any means, but he gently prods me to ride farther, faster, better. A 32-mile Hopkins run with him earlier this year was a milestone — I was thrilled at my newfound ability to pedal hard for mile after mile, though I needed rest breaks. Later in the season, I could do this ride nonstop.

This has been a bonding exercise. Chris and I have a routine this summer: For each of our rides, we identify an interesting coffee shop, figure out how we’ll get there, and then hang out there, as buddies do.

ASSEMBLE A BIKE POSSE

Here’s one of my big bicycling-related discoveries: It is a social activity. Bicyclists love to ride in packs, and I found myself assembling my own pelotons with surprisingly little effort.

Chris and I identified other bicyclists in our neighborhood and we started an informal riding club. I was the slowpoke of the group last year, which was another incentive for me to train hard this year. Now I can keep up with the others pretty nicely.

At parties, I have become adept at subtly nudging conversation to bicycling in order to flush out fellow enthusiasts and engage them. Before long, we’re pals making pacts to ride.

A number of my co-workers are dedicated cyclists, too, and we are plotting bicycle outings in the coming months.

My informal directory of biking buddies has grown to the point where I need to keep track of it on a spreadsheet.

Some of my bicycling buddies are virtual. I interact with a growing number of friends and acquaintances on Strava, a social network for bicyclists, runners, swimmers and other athletes.

I post all my rides on the network, which tracks my biking activity via my iPhone’s GPS, and uploads maps, statistics, and more. So do my Strava friends. One of these is my neighbor Mike across the street, and though I’ve never ridden with him, he has been an inspiration because his posts give me a wealth of intelligence on where to pedal next.

GAWP AT THE SCENERY

Cycling has been a journey of discovery into worlds I’d either ignored or didn’t know existed.

The famed Midtown Greenway, a 5.5-mile east-west Minneapolis trail on a former railroad corridor, is a good example. If you’re not a cyclist, you may never know the largely sunken trail is there (I didn’t). Once you’ve traveled this route, though, you’ll be in love with this bicycle interstate. Heck, you will even find a bike shop, a yoga studio and a smoothie joint along the way.

The twin river-hugging roads of Mississippi River Boulevard (on the St. Paul side) and West River Parkway (Minneapolis side) provide breathtaking vistas of earth, water and sky as I do a roundabout commute (15 to 22 miles, depending on my exact route) to my office near downtown St. Paul.

The short, mildly challenging uphill climb from CHS Field to Indian Mounds Park is one of my favorite segments because it’s pretty (and because good friends await me, often with an invitation to dinner, at the top of the hill).

Some of the scenery is sobering. I once came across a “ghost bike,” a painted-white bicycle carcass locked to a pole. These memorialize someone who was killed while riding at that location, my pal Chris explained.

The highlight of my 2016 cycling season was the St. Paul Classic Bike Tour, a casual east-metro September ride with plenty of company and cycling segments of varying lengths depending on your level of proficiency; I wimped out and did the shortest route. Not so this year; I plan to tackle the longest segment, a full 47 miles, on Sept. 10.

BECOME THE SENSEI

Now that Chris has revealed to me the many wondrous bicycling routes available hereabouts, I’m passing this knowledge on to others.

My son and I recently joined my aforementioned good friends on a ride that included the Minneapolis riverfront, the Midtown Greenway and that portion of the Cedar Lake Trail that goes under Target Field.

The knowledge passing works the other way, too. My friends introduced me to the Gateway Trail that runs from St. Paul to points east. We did only a small part of the trail that day, but I soon revisited this lovely route on my recent ride to Stillwater.

KEEP PUSHING YOURSELF

At first I was hesitant to push myself too hard. After all, I have problem knees from my old days as a runner. Indeed, my knees got pretty sore at first as I pedaled around the neighborhood.

When I realized the ol’ leg joints were going to be just fine, though, I began a game of one-upmanship. A 16-mile ride around St. Paul seemed like an amazing achievement until I pulled off that 32-mile Hopkins run. Then I did the 50-mile ride to Stillwater and, on Saturday, I topped that with my epic 75-miler to visit good friends in Prior Lake.

A “century” (100-mile) ride is my next benchmark. In June I hope to join friends on the 150-mile 2018 Bike MS: MS 150, which once seemed far beyond my grasp but now is totally doable — especially after I did essentially half an MS 150 on my Prior Lake run.

MAKE SOME MISTAKES

I’ve done some stupid things. I described one mishap as follows on Strava:

A rough ride. I became adventurous and tried to find a new route home but got lost. As I pondered my predicament, I got a bit careless on a hill and took a tumble onto the paved trail. I scratched myself up pretty good and I may have sprained my left thumb. That’s all OK … but I scuffed up my Apple Watch! Crap. It also appears to have a screen fracture. Double crap. Anyhow, I could have given up at that point and taken the shortest, most direct route to my house, but I stuck to my roundabout workout circuit and logged my intended mileage. It was a bit painful, but I was determined to enjoy what was otherwise a great ride on a lovely day.

I’ve made some boneheaded bicycle-maintenance mistakes, like pouring too much oil on the chain and gunking up the back gears (also called cogs). The guys at the bike shop are patiently walking me through basics like that so I don’t ruin my bike.

Hey, it’s all good, and part of the experience.

HAVE A BREWSKI!

My reward for a long, challenging ride is a frosty beer — preferably something hoppy and east metro-y (like a Summit Horizon Red IPA). Maybe it’s not the healthiest thing to drink after a workout, but I deserve it. Cheers!

Julio's Pioneer Press duties include writing, often about tech, and helping manage the paper's website and social media. He also uses virtual-reality cameras and other tech tools to commit journalism. In his spare time, Julio writes for the TidBITS Apple-news site, where he is a contributing editor. See his blog at ojezap.com.

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